School fire being treated as suspicious

A fire at a Hamilton school which wiped out two rooms and caused smoke damage in six others early this morning is being treated as suspicious.

Firefighters called to the scene at Melville High School about 2.40am today found two classrooms of the H-shaped building well ablaze, Hamilton Fire Service deputy chief Martyn Berryman said.

About 45 firefighters managed to contain the fire to two rooms but the other six were damaged, he said.

"The two which were ablaze when we got here were rendered unusable, and four to six suffered smoke damage and will hopefully be able to be used in two to three weeks."

Mr Berryman said the fire was being treated as suspicious at this stage. Fire Safety Investigators would examine the scene more fully this morning.

He said a sprinkler system would have limited the damage and the fire should be seen as a warning to schools and other businesses about the value of getting them installed.

"They do cost a bit to install but the cost of that compared to the cost of fixing unusable buildings is small," Mr Berryman said.

"If there was a sprinkler system here the only damage would be a bit of water damage."

- NZPA